Final warnings from Republicans on Biden’s big night

The president will deliver his second State of the Union address — his first before a divided Congress — at a time of tense debate over the national debt ceiling and fresh news that a Chinese spy balloon was crossing the continental United States.

House Republicans, fresh off the new majority they secured in this Congress, say President Biden should use Tuesday’s State of the Union address to cross the aisle and avoid his tag favorite for the GOP: “extreme Republican MAGA”.

What message should Biden send tonight?

“He has to show his willingness to work across the aisle and work with President McCarthy,” Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican newcomer who flipped a seat in New York House, told DailyMail.com. .

“If the President steps onto this hallowed podium as part of his constitutional duty to deliver a State of the Union address and uses this opportunity to hurl hyper-partisan slurs, I think that will be a real lost opportunity, and frankly, really inappropriate,’ Rep. Dusty Johnson, chair of the moderate pro-business Main Street Caucus, told DailyMail.com.

Johnson, RS.D., said he hopes Biden will tackle the “three big challenges” facing the nation: the national debt, China and the southern border – adding that there was “broad bipartisan agreement on what to do with China after the spy balloon saga this weekend.

Johnson added that “the place would explode” if Biden announced he was reinstating migrant protection protocols, otherwise known as the Mexico stay policy that required migrants to wait for their asylum hearings south of the border. border.

He said there would be a “genuine Republican appetite” to work with Biden to fight inflation and reduce health care costs.

Biden may refer to GOP as ‘Extreme MAGA Republicans’

On Monday, President Kevin McCarthy promised to be “respectful” during Biden’s address and in turn asked Biden to refrain from using the phrase “extreme MAGA Republican” — a phrase Biden has began to incorporate into his public speeches.

Biden and McCarthy are likely in a fleeting moment of relaxation as they work to hammer out a deal to raise the debt ceiling by $31.4 trillion.

“I think that’s very telling of where they’re mentally sitting there and saying extreme Republicans MAGA over and over again, but not addressing the fact that gasoline is significantly higher than it is today than it is today. two years ago,” Rep. Harriet Hageman, a Republican Grand Congresswoman from Wyoming, said.

“If they want to have a debate about whether it’s a good idea to loot the strategic oil reserve and sell it to China. We can have this debate just by calling me an extreme MAGA Republican because I disagree with that really isn’t a discussion.

On what she wants to hear from the president, she said: ‘What I want to hear and what I would love to see that I’m pretty sure won’t happen is that he comes in and talks about how we’re going to stop spending money We can’t keep laundering money through DC.

Lawler said, “I don’t think ‘extreme Republican MAGA’ will resonate.”

“If he goes down this road – people are hurting and they want leaders who are going to put petty partisanship aside and focus on how we meet these challenges.”

Biden could say Republicans want to cut Social Security and Medicare

Biden has also taken a frequent line of attack against Republicans, including accusing them of wanting to cut popular social programs like Social Security and Medicare.

“House Republicans are threatening to cut Social Security and Medicare, endangering the dignity of millions of Americans who depend on these programs,” Biden tweeted Sunday. ‘I won’t put up with this. We need to strengthen these programs – not strip them of substance.’

“I think there will be a few people in the audience who will have something to say about it” if Biden repeats the claim, Rep. Greg Murphy, RN.C., told DailyMail.com.

‘I would like to ask [Biden] to find a Republican — I also asked the media for this — tell me the name of a person who wants to cut benefits for the elderly,” said Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas.

McCarthy said Social Security and Medicare would not be cut, but any other program or department — including the Pentagon — could be targeted to reduce “waste.”

Republicans urge Biden to present his budget before proposing cuts

Republicans, meanwhile, have pressed Biden to present his own budget proposal ahead of a standoff over raising the debt ceiling between the president and Chairman Kevin McCarthy.

“I think he’s lying to the American people when he says he wants to limit his spending,” GOP Rep. Kevin Hern, who chairs the Republican Review Committee, told DailyMail.com.

“He doesn’t, otherwise you’d have a budget showing where his priorities are.”

Biden missed his budget deadline earlier this week, but has promised to present his fiscal year 2024 priorities to Congress by March 9.

“Speaker Pelosi always said, ‘Show me your budget and I’ll show you your priorities, your values.

But Republicans have apparently been deliberately vague about the budgets of departments that will be first on the chopping block.

“We’re working on the details,” Hern said.

“Democrats spend huge amounts of money and then turn around and say, Hey, Republicans are trying to fix it. If you can’t, it’s your fault. It’s not a good bargain,’ Hageman said, challenging fellow lawmakers across the aisle to offer cuts.

China: GOP says strong message needed after spy balloon

Hern also said Biden should use the address to reinforce the message of strength against China in light of the spy balloon found floating over the United States.

“Obviously the position we have with China right now, they are testing us,” he said.

“They are testing our resolve after what they saw in Afghanistan. They want to know what we are going to do, should they invade Taiwan?’